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TORONTO – The MLB Network has launched in Canada, just as media giant Rogers Communications renews its Canadian TV deal with Major League Baseball for another eight years.
Rogers, which runs the Sportsnet-branded cable sport channels here and the Toronto Blue Jays club, will launch MLB Network on its digital TV service after securing regulatory approval from the CRTC.
The MLB Network will be available via a free preview period through April 2014.
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The MLB Network launch will bring Rogers additional baseball revenue as it keeps a suite of TV, mobile and online rights to pro baseball content through 2021.
Terms of the rights renewal deal were not disclosed. Sportsnet has been broadcasting MLB games since 2003.
Toronto Blue Jays broadcasts will continue to dominate the Sportsnet schedule each summer, as the cable sport channels turn to hockey in winter after Rogers recently signed a 12-year, U.S. $4.9 billion rights deal with the National Hockey League.
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